Escapades of the Fellowship
by rubykateweasley
Summary: SLASH Humorous slash in a serious style, a variety of pairings mostly FrodoAragorn.
1. One Night In Moria

Title: One Night In Moria  
Author: Kitty Rose (hobbitfetishslashgirl@yahoo.co.uk)  
Pairings: Mostly Frodo/Gollum, Frodo/Aragorn. Also, Pippin/Sam, Gimli/Gandalf, Merry/Boromir, Legolas/Aragorn   
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Gollum takes a liking to Frodo, while the rest of the Fellowship are somewhat distracted...  
Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own any of Tolkien's characters  
Warning: non-consensual sexual situations   
Authors Note: Not to be taken entirely seriously. This is my first ever LOTR fan fic! Thank you to my lovely beta reader, Trianne.  
----------------  
  
It was unremittingly dark in the Mines of Moria, and any sudden sound threatened to dispel the stillness that hung in the air.   
  
Gollum slunk over the rocks, trying to restrain himself and not disturb the silence. As he edged nearer, noises became louder, until there was no silence but only the sound of Gimli snoring. Edging as close as he dared, he peered out from behind a rock, his gaze fixed on the small hobbit that shivered in the night, the only member of the fellowship awake. Gollum hissed softly at the sight of him, "Bagginsss..."   
  
Cautiously, he looked around at the rest of the sleeping fellowship. Sam was curled up next to Frodo, and Gollum sneered softly at this, and at the sight of Merry and Pippin who were barely any distance away, snuggled up in blankets. To Gollum's amusement, Boromir was also sleeping snugly amongst the hobbits, looking rather out of place. "Boromir alwaysss likess the little oness preciouss," he muttered to himself.  
  
He quickly looked around at the others, checking they were sleeping soundly. They were, and a little distance away. Gollum hissed softly again, and let his gaze wander back to Frodo. Frodo was fighting sleep, trying desperately to stay awake and fulfil his role of keeping watch. Gollum studied him silently for a few minutes, watching every shiver and every yawn, and those intriguing blue eyes that kept threatening to hide behind delicate eyelids. At last however, Frodo's head slumped against his chest, and he was asleep.  
  
Chuckling to himself, Gollum edged nearer, scanning the fellowships for signs of alertness; then he was practically on top of the little hobbit, who was now softly snoring. Hobbits are heavy sleepers, and Gollum trod lightly and quietly, with no fears. It was only the mutterings and noises he made in his throat that made any noticeable sound. "Preciousss..." he whispered darkly.  
  
He tugged at Frodo's sleeves, and pulled him slowly across the floor. Frodo did not wake; however Sam stirred a little in his sleep, and Gollum hissed. "Nassty hobbitses, trying to wake up!" He let go of Frodo, gently letting him rest on the floor and scuttled along to the nearest hobbit, which happened to be Pippin. Carefully, Gollum rolled Pippin's sleeping body towards Sam. Pippin was snoring loudly and didn't notice a thing.  
  
Gollum chuckled to himself once more, and returned to his prey. He dragged the hobbit softly across the floor, being careful not to jar him and awake him from his sleep.   
***  
  
Sam half woke, and caught a glimpse of a sleeping hobbit next to him in the dark. He snuggled up closer to the sleeping form, before falling asleep himself once more.   
***  
  
Gollum continued to drag Frodo way, shaking his blankets off him as they went. Gollum found his way round a corner and through a dark doorway, out of earshot. He gently put the hobbit down, kneeling next to the soft body.   
  
"And now... the preciousss..." Gollum murmured dramatically. "Now that the filthy little Bagginsss is mine, the preciousss shall be also..."  
  
He fumbled at the hobbit's neck, beneath his shirt, and found the chain which held the ring.   
"Preciousss...." He purred, happily, and the chain seemed to become undone around Frodo's neck, without any effort from Gollum. He smiled adoringly, and cupped the ring in his hands.  
"Preciousss wanted to come back to Smeagol," He said, stroking it. "Preciousss is home."  
He slipped it onto his finger, and made to scamper off into the darkness, but then turned back, and looked at the sleeping hobbit, who sighed contentedly.  
  
"Bagginsss.... Smeagol should get revenge on the Bagginss shouldn't he preciousss?"  
He crept back up to the hobbit again, and leant over him, hissing. He put his hands to the hobbit's neck, and gazed down at him. "But maybe... maybe Smeagol doesn't want to kill the Bagginss just yet..." He murmured. "Not yet preciousss, we wants to do something else instead, don't we preciouss?"  
  
He leaned over the hobbit, sniggering once more.  
"Bagginss..." He stroked Frodo's chin, and leaned inwards, kissing the hobbit with surprising tenderness.   
Frodo stirred in his sleep, but didn't seem to notice anything amiss. Gollum smiled, and kissed the hobbit deeper, one fist clenched over the ring on his finger. He ran his other hand through Frodo's hair fiercely. Frodo's lips felt soft and warm against Gollum's cold mouth, and Gollum urged the lips of the sleeping hobbit open with his tongue.  
Still Frodo didn't wake, but slowly and unconsciously he opened his mouth to Gollum's probing tongue, beginning to move his lips against Gollum's. Gollum's tongue embraced the warmth of Frodo's mouth, and felt the breathing of the little hobbit become faster.   
  
Gollum gave a soft hiss of delight, and squeezed the precious tighter in his excitement. He was on all fours, crouched over Frodo now, and he shifted his weight from his elbows to his chest, as he moved his hand through Frodo's sweet hair, which he found fascinating.  
  
Gollum broke away from the kiss and murmured to his precious. "Smeagol used to have hair like that preciouss, when he was a nasssty little hobbit, before he was Gollum... look at the little sssleeping hobbit preciousss, see he sighssss softly in hiss sleep, and doesn't even notice Smeagol'ss here..." Gollum sniggered. "But the Bagginsss he likess Smeagol to be here really, the Bagginss likess it preciousss..."   
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, Sam awoke, for no reason, still feeling very tired.   
  
"Mr Frodo?" He whispered, to the half visible figure on his right amongst the shadows, "Mr Frodo?"   
He got no answer, and wrapping his blankets around him, shuffled over to the hobbit, who he now could see was asleep. He reached out a hand, and touched the sleeping hobbit's shoulder gently.   
  
"Mr Frodo! You're supposed to be keeping watch..." Sam fell quiet a moment, and decided it wasn't fair to wake his master. Instead, he, Sam, would keep watch, and let his master rest.  
Leaning against a rock, he tried to stay awake, and felt proud that he was doing such an important thing, as well as looking after Frodo. He wondered if his master was cold, and moved closer, pushing his own blanket over the two of them. He shivered a little, and yawned. Maybe he'd just lie down a little bit, but he wouldn't fall asleep, oh no. Not while someone needed to keep watch.   
  
Sam shuffled down, and lay next to the sleeping hobbit. "It's alright Mr Frodo, I'm still awake," he said, just in case Frodo was awake.  
The hobbit rolled over a little in his sleep, and Sam caught a glimpse of curly hair peeping out of the top of the blanket. He pushed the blankets back into place, and lay down again, his head not far from that of the other hobbit. In the thick darkness, and hidden by the blanket, the other hobbit lay still. Sam moved closer, trying to check on his master.   
  
"Are you awake Mr Frodo?" he whispered. There was no answer, but Sam felt a sudden urge to see his master's face. He slowly put out a hand and stroked the hobbit's hair, edging even closer and tilting the sleeper's face to try and see it in the dim light. He couldn't make out anything really, and he felt a bit sad. But this close, he could feel the hobbit's breath on his face, only a short distance away; he shivered, but not from the cold.   
He felt tired, and tried to keep himself awake, but the next thing he knew, he'd pressed his lips against the other hobbit's mouth. Sam's eyes flicked open with surprise and fear, and he shrank back, hoping that his master hadn't woken up.   
  
Pippin smiled at Sam's shyness and leaned over to kiss him passionately, pushing his tongue between Sam's lips and pulling back his blankets. Sam was startled, and, his heart beating fast, began to return the kiss, tentatively opening his mouth to Pippin's gently persuasive tongue.  
By this point Pippin had kicked off his blankets and was lying on top of Sam, fumbling with his shirt buttons. "I never thought you liked this kinda thing," Pippin grinned, and winked, although it was wasted in the darkness.   
  
Sam gasped, and opened his eyes breathlessly. That wasn't Frodo's voice! "Pippin?"   
"Who else?" Pippin smirked, pulling Sam's shirt off, and covering his chest in kisses.   
"Oh... I don't know..." Sam murmured, and forgot Frodo.   
  
***  
  
Merry woke grumpily; hearing fervent whispers and moans beside him, and sighed heavily. Pippin always did this, wherever they went. He always ended up shagging someone. He wandered who exactly it was. The point was however, that it wasn't *him*. Just because he didn't go round throwing himself at people.... Merry smiled thoughtfully, and glanced over at Boromir.  
  
Boromir awoke, surprised but not unpleased, to find a hobbit pinning him down and kissing him on the lips.   
"Don't say anything," whispered the hobbit, in between seductive kisses. "Just kiss me." Boromir did so, obediently and rather enthusiastically, and wondered what Merry would think of the Horn of Gondor.  
  
***  
  
Frodo was dreaming. About Aragorn to be specific, although Frodo didn't want anyone to know anything more specific than that. Least of all Aragorn. As Frodo dreamt, he found his dream becoming slowly more and more real. He half awoke to find that someone had indeed taken his shirt off and was kissing his collarbone. Frodo slowly became more and more conscious of the situation. He couldn't see anyone there, but he could feel it... he could definitely feel it. He heard slight murmuring and gave a sudden cry of realisation as he realised who it was.  
  
"The filthy little Bagginss is awake!" Gollum cried sharply, looking up, and quickly grabbing Frodo's wrists as he tried to struggle. "Naughty little Bagginsss," he leered. "Smeagol hasss you now, Smeagol and the Preciousss!"   
  
"The precious!" gasped Frodo, trying to push the invisible Gollum off him, but failing miserably. Gollum was far stronger than he was, and Frodo's arm was still weak from his injury at Weathertop.   
  
"The preciousss," Gollum confirmed, sniggering. "Smeagol's preciousss, hiss birthday present."   
  
Frodo could feel the cold metal of the ring against his arm; it was still on the hand that Gollum was using to pin down the hobbit's right wrist. He desperately tried to free his arm but it was no use. Gollum laughed, "The hobbit cannot esscape," He said, leaning down towards Frodo, and kissing him on the lips once more.   
  
Frodo tried to struggle, but couldn't even scream, as his mouth was once more filled with Gollum's tongue, and his arms were twisted round above his head.   
  
"Naughty hobbit," Gollum laughed, and pressed his lips over Frodo's again.   
Frodo struggled still, and then bit Gollum's lip in a sudden act of rebellion. Gollum pulled away, but retained his grip on Frodo's wrists.   
  
"Filthy little Bagginsss!" He cried, blood dripping from his lip, becoming visible as it landed on Frodo's shirt. "But Smeagol doesn't care!"   
He kissed Frodo again, even more fierce this time, and Frodo could taste the blood, feel it trickling down his chin. He thrashed about as much as he could, under Gollum's weight.   
Gollum chuckled softly into Frodo's mouth, squeezing his wrists tightly.  
  
***  
  
"I never knew you had a beard fetish too," Gimli said huskily, and twirled a strand of his own beard around his finger teasingly.   
"There's a lot you don't know about me, Gimli," Gandalf said, smiling seductively and pulled Gimli closer.   
***  
  
Legolas awoke, seeming to hear passionate demands and promises from every direction. He sat up, and immediately looked away from Gimli and Gandalf, wishing he hadn't happened to have been facing that way, and saw two hobbits under a blanket, and a hobbit and Boromir a little further along. Then there was Aragorn, snoring soundly, oblivious to the scandal around him.   
  
Legolas crawled over to Aragorn, trying to ignore the others.   
  
"Aragorn..." he whispered, and shook him gently. "Aragorn!"   
  
Aragorn rolled over, tetchily. Legolas hesitated, and then thought, well why not?  
Everyone else was... He leaned down, and kissed Aragorn fully on the lips, slowly. It was without a doubt the most romantic kiss of that entire evening. He ran his fingers through Aragorn's hair, caressing his cheek slowly... and Aragorn awoke, looking into the eyes of Legolas.  
  
"Legolas...?"   
"Aragorn," said Legolas, sweetly, and smiled, still stroking Aragorn's cheek.   
  
"Who's that squealing?" Aragorn asked, frowning.  
"Gimli I think," Legolas said. "I know, I don't like to think about it either."   
  
Aragorn could vaguely make out shapes in the darkness, shapes he didn't want to see, and he could hear things he definitely didn't want to hear. His heart suddenly beat faster. What if Frodo... was with one of the others? He couldn't bear that; it was bad enough not having Frodo, than to see him with one of the fellowship.   
  
Legolas leaned in to kiss Aragorn again, but Aragorn pushed him aside, standing up and looking around desperately. He couldn't see Frodo anywhere. Legolas looked cross and took Aragorn's blankets, putting one over his head to block out the noise, and attempted to sleep.   
  
Aragorn crawled closer to Boromir, trying to see which hobbit that was. As soon as he had ascertained that it was Merry, he crawled on towards the two other hobbits. Listening carefully to the two hobbits, in a state of some alarm, he worked out that it was Sam and Pippin. Those accounted for, there was only Gimli and Gandalf.   
  
Aragorn frowned. One hobbit - Frodo - was missing. Finally, he stood up and looked around desperately. He could make out, in the darkness, two blankets discarded a little way off, just before a doorway. He ran over there, his sword drawn. He thought he could hear a voice, a familiar hissing, murmuring voice, and he began to run even faster. He could hear frantic cries too, Frodo's, and they rang clearly through his head, filling him with fear and anger towards whom by his sounds could only be Gollum.  
  
***  
He reached the doorway, sword up in front of him defensively. His eyes scanned the room. With relief he saw Frodo there on the floor, his shirt in a crumpled heap beside him. Relief turned to surprise, however, as he saw that Frodo was in a state of some despair, thrashing about on the floor, while all along could be heard hissing and murmuring.   
  
For a moment, Aragorn stood there, disorientated, and then came to a sudden realisation. Gollum had the ring - his precious - he must do, and not only that, he had Frodo. Once he heard Gollum speak again, he knew for certain.  
  
"Little hobbit," Gollum hissed. "Are you scared of sweet little Smeagol and the precious?"   
Frodo just kicked and struggled, calling out desperately. Then, suddenly, Gollum was no longer on top of Frodo but was being thrown through the air, falling to the stone floor. The ring slipped off of his finger, and rolled away noisily.   
  
Gollum, now visible, desperately tried to crawl after it, but Aragorn was there again, thrusting his sword towards Gollum.   
  
Gollum dodged away from the ring and away from the sword, hissing. "Smeagol wants his precious! It was his before the Bagginss stole it! It was Smeagol's birthday present!"   
  
Aragorn said nothing, his mouth a grim line, calm but clearly enraged. He lunged at Gollum again, who dodged, but only just, and Aragorn's sword cut into Gollum's arm. Gollum cried out, and clutched his arm as he scuttled quickly out of reach. Frodo crawled over to the ring, and grabbed it, cursing himself for even letting Gollum get it in the first place, although he couldn't remember how that happened.   
  
Gollum saw this, and screamed. "My precious! My precious..." He cried, lunging for Frodo.   
In panic, Frodo put the ring on and rolled away. Gollum screamed even more, and looked around for any sign of the hobbit and his precious.   
But then Aragorn hit him with his fist, enough to knock Gollum backwards, but not to seriously hurt him. Aragorn really felt like inflicting serious pain on Gollum right now, but Gandalf had said something about Gollum being important, and Aragorn didn't want to affect the fate of the Fellowship.   
  
Gollum fell backwards, hissing angrily and then moved quickly forward again at Aragorn's knees, knocking him backwards too. Gollum looked around quickly for his Precious, but Frodo still had the ring on and Gollum had no chance of finding him. He hissed, and gave up - for now. He ran away, cursing the hobbit and the man with all his breath. Aragorn looked up, panting, and saw Gollum escaping. That was probably the best thing, he thought to himself.   
  
"Frodo?" He asked, looking around, but too out of breath to get up. He felt the invisible hobbit throw himself against his chest, sobbing quietly. He put his arms around Frodo, and tried to comfort him.   
"It's all right Frodo, I'm here. You can take the ring off now, I'll look after you."   
  
Frodo hesitated, and then slowly slipped the ring off his finger. He held it in his clenched fist now, squeezing it tightly, not wanting to risk losing it again. Aragorn tilted Frodo's face up to look at him. Frodo looked back him, wide eyed and pale, his tears running down his face and mingling with Gollum's blood still smeared around his mouth.   
  
"It's all right now little one," Aragorn said, wiping the blood and tears from Frodo's face with his finger.   
  
"I'm sorry," Frodo rubbed the tears and blood away himself. "I'm all right now. Don't worry."   
"I do worry," Aragorn said, gently. "For one so small, you have great strength; but the ring, for such a little thing, casts a great burden upon you, and you cannot be expected to go it alone. That is why I swore to protect you, and why I am here, holding you now..."   
  
Frodo shifted uncomfortably, realising that the man was in fact holding him, that he was in truth lying on Aragorn.   
  
"Thank you... Strider... for comforting me. But I think I shall be all right now."   
  
"Are you sure little one?" Aragorn asked, knowing that he should let Frodo go now, but finding he couldn't bear to.  
  
Frodo hesitated and looked away, to avoid answering. It was very kind of Aragorn to comfort him, but the little hobbit couldn't help but feel rather nervous around the ranger.   
  
"Where are the others?" he asked, changing the subject.   
  
"Back through there, but they're somewhat busy at the moment. We'd be better off staying here for the rest of the night."   
  
Frodo yawned, and nodded. He didn't bother to ask what the others were up to, trusting Aragorn.   
"  
Let's sleep now, little one," Aragorn said, rolling over slightly so that Frodo was now lying by his side, and hugged him still, for warmth and protection. "You'll be safe."   
Frodo cuddled up to Aragorn and shut his eyes. He was glad of the ranger's comfort, both emotional and physical. He felt Aragorn's strong arms around him protectively, and he wondered what thoughts were running through Aragorn's head at the moment.   
  
Aragorn was, in fact, trying not to think of anything at all, just go to sleep, but his thoughts kept returning to the hobbit in his arms, lying so close to him. He felt guilty, and reminded himself that he was supposed to be taking care of Frodo, not scaring him even more. He didn't feel he could bear to lie alone with Frodo, but what else could he do? He wasn't taking Frodo back to the others; he didn't quite trust Pippin when he was in *that* kind of a mood.   
But, Aragorn reminded himself reproachfully, he was feeling rather in *that* kind of a mood himself.   
  
***  
Frodo awoke suddenly, almost in tears. He'd been dreaming... vivid flash backs about Gollum, but they seemed even more real than they had done before. He moved closer to Aragorn, and looked around fearfully into the threatening darkness. There seemed to be movement everywhere, rustling from all directions, shapes looming out of the darkness. He could hear some kind of strange squealing some way off.   
  
Frodo buried his head in the sleeping Aragorn's chest; the ranger didn't fully awake but hugged Frodo tightly. Frodo tried to move away slightly, worried that he might be an annoyance to Aragorn, but the man's strong arms held Frodo still, and so he stayed close, not wanting to wake him.   
Frodo shut his eyes, and tried to get back to sleep, but he couldn't get the thought of Gollum out of his head - his cold lips, his hissing laugh, and his insistent kisses... Frodo shuddered, and tried to think of something else. Anything to rid himself of thoughts of Gollum. Frodo felt his eyes welling up, and he was crying once more. He tried to stop, cross with himself, but couldn't help it. He tried to choke back the sobs, and failed.   
  
Aragorn stirred, and hugged the little hobbit anxiously. "Frodo?"   
  
Frodo looked up at the ranger and saw concern in his eyes. In the near darkness the ranger looked more beautiful than ever, in so many ways. He could feel Aragorn's arms around his waist, his hands on his back, and being so close to the man, so close that he could almost feel the man's breath, made Frodo tremble slightly.   
  
Aragorn gazed at the little hobbit, unsure of what to do. He could think of several things he'd like to do, but also several reasons why he shouldn't do them. He could feel Frodo trembling, and wondered if he was scaring him. Should he pull away a little? On the other hand, maybe Frodo was scared of Gollum, and the pressures put upon him by the ring, in which case he might need a comforting hug right now. If only Aragorn could limit himself to only comforting hugs that is...  
  
Frodo looked up at Aragorn, and still thoughts of Gollum flashed through his mind. He needed something to take his mind of this. Something to comfort him, something to make him happy... Impulsively, he leaned forward and firmly pressed his soft lips against Aragorn's, heart beating fast and praying he wasn't doing a stupid thing. To his delight and relief, Aragorn pulled the hobbit even closer, and returned the kiss passionately.   
Aragorn had reacted before he could think, and suddenly cursed himself for his lust. He broke away, and looked at the hobbit carefully. Frodo looked back at him, blue eyes wide in an expression of hurt and dismay. He *had* done a stupid thing, he told himself.   
  
"Frodo...." Aragorn said, his hand softly stroking the hobbit's cheek.   
  
"It's alright, I understand," Frodo said in a small voice, trying not to cry. That would make the situation even worse. But Aragorn had wanted him, for a moment at least surely, judging by his reaction. Frodo found he couldn't help himself; he kissed Aragorn fervently and insistently, not letting the ranger break away.   
  
Aragorn knew he could easily break away should he wish to, and he knew he should. However the hobbit was far too tempting, and he seemed to be wanting this. Oh yes, he definitely seemed to. He sighed, and decided that it was becoming too much of a struggle to think straight anymore. This was definitely a night to remember, he thought, before his thoughts vanished and he became immersed in the fiery kiss. 


	2. The Morning After

Frodo awoke, and became slowly became aware that he was still lying in Aragorn's arms. He wondered if Aragorn was annoyed about the fact that Frodo had fallen asleep barely ten minutes into their frantic kissing session. He couldn't be too annoyed, Frodo decided, if he was still holding Frodo now.  
  
But they shouldn't stay there much longer, Frodo reminded himself. They should go back to the others in case they were suspicious. Although they'd probably been sleeping solidly all night and not noticed they were gone anyway.  
  
"Aragorn." Frodo shook the ranger gently. "Aragorn, we should get up, and go back to the others. so that they don't think." He blushed a little, as Aragorn woke and looked a bit confused at the little hobbit.  
  
Aragorn tried to work out what the hobbit was doing lying half on top of him like this, and why he was still so tired. Then suddenly all of last night's events came flooding back to him. The activities of the rest of the Fellowship must have corrupted him, he realised with horror, and made him take advantage of poor little Frodo, making the hobbit have to pretend to be asleep in order to escape his mad lust.  
  
He cursed himself inwardly. How could he have done such a thing?  
  
Frodo watched Aragorn, studying his face for sign of his thoughts. Was he starting to regret last night? He awkwardly put his hand in the ranger's hand, to see what he would do.  
  
Aragorn jumped as the hobbit's soft fingers brushed his hand and a tingling feeling ran straight through him. He quickly got to his feet, pulling Frodo to stand up almost roughly.  
  
"We'd better go back to the others then," He said, avoiding the hobbit's gaze, and felt Frodo's hand slip away from his in disappointment.  
  
"Just wait here. I'll go and check," Aragorn said, and seeing Frodo's slightly hurt expression, he gave a reassuring smile. Frodo's face immediately lit up.  
  
As Aragorn turned away to creep towards the others, he allowed his smile to fade away and be replaced by a worried look. What kind of effect would this have on the Ringbearer? And his own role as his protector of the Ring bearer? How could he abuse his position like that?, he scolded himself.  
  
Peering round a rock and preparing himself to cover his eyes if necessary, he saw with relief that everyone was fast asleep again. The only noises Gimli were making now , were snoring, and it seemed safe to proceed.  
  
He turned back, and beckoned for Frodo to come over. Frodo did so, carrying his blanket forlornly. He'd put his shirt back on, and was holding it together in one hand as Gollum had ripped half of the buttons off in his excitement last night. Frodo looked up at Aragorn sorrowfully, big blue eyes making the Ranger melt.  
  
Aragorn pulled himself together and began to creep back towards the others. He paused by the sleeping hobbits, who had broken away from their lovers and were sleeping innocently.  
  
He nodded at Frodo. "Try and sleep for now. The others should wake up soon."  
  
He turned to walk back towards where he'd been sleeping previously, but Frodo tugged at his sleeve.  
  
"Can't I lie next to you again?" He asked.  
  
Aragorn tore his gaze away from those pleading eyes. "No Frodo, it would only look suspicious."  
  
He couldn't trust himself to lie that close to the hobbit again, and he didn't feel he deserved it. What's more, he didn't want the others to realise he was as pervy as them.  
  
Frodo looked disappointed, and let go of the Ranger's arm.  
  
Aragorn quickly walked away, before he gave in to temptation.  
  
Frodo lay down and huddled up with his blanket, watching the ranger disappear into the darkness. He suddenly felt very alone, and shuffled along the floor a little to lie next to Sam. He could always trust Sam.  
  
Frodo tried to sleep, but couldn't. He couldn't stop thinking about Aragorn and what the man must think of him now. Frodo had obviously been wrong when he thought that Aragorn liked the kiss. He sighed, and then cried softly into his blanket.  
  
***  
  
Aragorn found that his blanket was still wrapped up around Legolas, and swore quietly.  
  
He lay down on the floor without a blanket, and tried to sleep but soon found himself shivering. Without a blanket or the warmth of a sleeping companion, this was a very cold place.  
  
He reached out and tried to tug his blanket away from Legolas carefully. Legolas however was lying on one side of it, and he didn't want to pull on it too hard for fear of waking the elf up.  
  
Sighing, Aragorn moved closer and curled up under the furthest edge of the blanket, keeping as much distance between him and Legolas as possible.  
  
***  
  
Sam woke up to find Frodo in his arms. This confused him somewhat. Had all his dreams come true and Frodo had been his last night? Slowly last night's events came back to him.  
  
He frowned. Hadn't that been Pippin? But Frodo was here now. and it had been Frodo he'd wanted all these years, so why did he remember it as Pippin? On the other hand, Sam reflected, perhaps it had all been a dream.  
  
He tried to make sense of it all, and failed. He simply hugged Frodo tightly instead, glad to have his master near him.  
  
***  
  
Aragorn woke up again to the sound of chattering and realised that the hobbits were awake. And Gandalf, who'd lit his staff and now there was light around the place.  
  
He realised to his horror that Legolas was lying suspiciously close to him, and got up quickly. Legolas glared at the Ranger, and stayed huddled up in his blanket sullenly.  
  
"Good morning Aragorn," said Gandalf, seeming very cheerful this morning.  
  
Aragorn smiled weakly, and tried to put all of last night's events out of his head. He'd just pretend it never happened.  
  
He avoided Frodo's gaze, and went to see what Merry and Pippin were making for breakfast.  
  
***  
  
Gandalf announced that he had decided which of the passageways they were to travel down this morning, after a long night of thinking. No-one dared to mention the incident with Gimli, they were too busy trying to make sure their own escapades had gone unnoticed.  
  
Gimli and Gandalf weren't being very discreet however, winking at each other and smiling seductively every five minutes. Everyone ignored them as much as possible, and so they began another long trek through the mines.  
  
Frodo wondered why everyone was acting so weirdly this morning. Every time he went near Sam, Sam would blush, and it was the same if Pippin went near him too, although Pippin was smirking and winking at poor Sam for no reason. As for the others: Aragorn was still ignoring him; Gimli and Gandalf seemed quite unnecessarily happy; Legolas was sulking; Boromir kept smiling at Merry and Merry kept going all shy and giggly. Of Gollum there was no sign, and Frodo wondered where he was.  
  
Actually, Frodo considered, Aragorn wasn't just acting strangely around him, he was acting strangely around everyone. He was ignoring Frodo, but he was acting very awkwardly around everyone else, muttering and avoiding people. He seemed to suddenly have a grudge against Legolas, who kept trying to talk to him and was being shunned, more noticeably thanthat Frodo was.  
  
Frodo looked up at the Ranger wistfully, and realised to his surprise that Aragorn had been looking at him. He smiled nervously, wondering what Aragorn was thinking, and Aragorn returned the smile before looking away quickly.  
  
Aragorn reprimanded himself for letting Frodo catch him in the glance him looking, and for even looking in the first place. As he turned away, he in turn found himself being watched.  
  
Legolas had his hands on his hips and was glaring at him jealously, having seen the interaction between Frodo and Aragorn.  
  
Aragorn sighed, and wished last night had never happened.  
  
He had considered informing the others about the incident with Gollum, but decided it would only excite them and it might lead them to conclusions about the Ranger's own feelings for the hobbit. He and Frodo were the only sane ones around here, Aragorn grimly decided and they should not do anything to change that.  
  
***  
  
"What's up with Merry and Boromir do you think?" Pippin smirked.  
  
"Uh, I don't know," Sam said, a deep shade of pink. He looked around for Frodo, but he was talking with Aragorn and Sam couldn't think of an excuse to go and walk with them.  
  
"Look at the way Merry's playing with his hair and smiling shyly at Boromir. Something going on there I reckon. What pervs."  
  
Sam said nothing, but secretly felt Pippin was being a little bit hypocritical. And somewhat jealous.  
  
***  
  
Frodo was surprised but pleased to find Aragorn suddenly by his side. Legolas, who was walking in front, kept turning around to look at them, and Frodo couldn't help but sense the elf was a little bit cross. He wondered why.  
  
"You must keep quiet about last night's incident," Aragorn whispered.  
  
Frodo felt himself blush. Was Aragorn ashamed?  
  
"With Gollum I mean," Aragorn added hastily, feeling rather embarrassed himself as he recalled the *other* incident.  
  
"Oh. Oh yes, of course. If you think it best." Frodo said, trying to cover his awkwardness, and wondered why Aragorn did not want to tell even Gandalf.  
  
Aragorn sought for a reason as to why Gandalf should not know. He didn't want Frodo to find out about the kind of things the others were capable of. "We shall talk with Gandalf about it when we are out of this place," he said, putting off the situation for a bit longer.  
  
Frodo nodded, and then sighed sadly as the Ranger slipped away to walk by himself again.  
  
Legolas stuck his tongue out at Frodo and quickly followed Aragorn.  
  
Frodo looked a little surprised.  
  
***  
  
Sam had been alarmed when Pippin had suddenly grabbed him by the arm and dragged him in front to walk with Merry and Boromir, who looked a bit annoyed. Sam had been even more alarmed when Pippin insisted on holding his hand, and giggling at him.  
  
He looked around to check that Frodo couldn't see how Pippin was behaving, but Frodo was distracted by Aragorn.  
  
Sam smiled and nodded and didn't really listen to Pippin's ramblings to Merry and Boromir, instead thinking about last night. It all seemed far too real to be a dream. but could it have really happened?  
  
And was it Frodo or Pippin? Judging by the way Pippin was acting now, it could well have been. but well, he didn't like Pippin like that, and Pippin didn't like him that, surely? He remembered being somewhat surprised about the emotions he suddenly found himself feeling last night, but he couldn't work out exactly what they were.  
  
His train of thought was broken as Merry addressed him. "Is that so Sam?"  
  
Merry and Boromir were looking quite impressed at Pippin's latest revelation and Pippin was smiling smugly.  
  
Sam wondered what exactly Pippin had said.  
  
"Uh, yes, I mean, uh, you know how it is," Sam smiled weakly. 


	3. The Night After

Title: Escapades of the Fellowship (Chapter Three)  
Author: Kitty-Rose (blood_and_rubies@yahoo.co.uk)   
Pairing: Many but mostly Frodo/Aragorn. See first chapter for other pairings.  
Rating: PG-13  
Feedback: Please!  
Archive: Ask first and I'll almost certainly say yes.  
Summary: The long awaited third chapter. In which there are more misunderstandings and seductions/  
A/N: Thanks to Rawly and Baranduin for beta reading, it's much appreciated. This is for Cute Newt and Salysha for their lovely feedback on the last chapters. =)  
  
At last, after what seemed like a very long day, Gandalf announced that they could now sleep again. Although the look he gave Gimli suggested that sleep wasn't his immediate priority. Legolas was appointed to keep watch.  
  
Aragorn ignored both Frodo's sorrowful gaze and Legolas' sultry pout; and stomped off into one corner, settling himself down on the floor.  
  
"Here Merry, let's sleep just here," Pippin said, gleefully pulling Merry down to the floor in between him and Sam. Merry gave a helpless little shrug at Boromir, who looked disappointed and lay down on the floor a little way away.  
  
Frodo curled up next to Sam, feeling a little sad, and Sam hugged him comfortingly. The pressures of being Ringbearer were getting to Frodo, Sam reflected.  
  
Gandalf put out the light on his staff, and the large cavern became almost pitch black, with only a dim glow in the distance from holes in the rock. Everybody waited for everyone else to fall asleep, each one wanting to make their move. However tiredness soon kicked in, and one by one the hobbits fell asleep.  
  
Boromir lay waiting patiently for Merry to sneak over to him. The lack of Gimli's snoring was worrying him a little, and he hoped that the dwarf wasn't awake. Gimli meanwhile was rather worried about the elf, but he couldn't fully focus on that. Legolas, with his keen elf vision, eyed the Aragorn carefully, but the ranger was facing the other way and the elf couldn't tell if Aragorn was awake.  
  
Aragorn *was* in fact awake, worrying. He did not like little Frodo sleeping so near the Fellowship anymore. And especially not near Pippin. Frodo's innocence should not be sullied in this way. Images crossed his mind as to just how Frodo's innocence could be sullied, and he quickly tried to think about something else. A muffled squeal from Gimli provided the distraction he needed, and also strengthened his belief that Frodo should not be sleeping here.  
  
His theory was confirmed when he spied a small figure crawling across the floor towards Boromir, who accepted the hobbit into his embrace immediately and eagerly.  
  
Aragorn stood up carefully and tiptoed across the smooth rocky floor towards Frodo, grateful that Frodo was sleeping on the edge of the group of hobbits.   
"Frodo?" he whispered, putting his hand on the hobbit's shoulder.  
  
As Frodo opened his eyes sleepily, Aragorn put a finger to his lips. "Shhh. Come with me."  
  
Aragorn suddenly wondered what he was going to give as his reason for taking Frodo away for the night. He saw Frodo's eyes widen in surprise, and he tried to put all thoughts of seducing the hobbit out of his head.  
As Frodo and Aragorn tiptoed away into the darkness, the man looking a little embarrassed and the hobbit looking innocent, two figures watched and carefully prepared to follow.  
  
***  
  
"Oh, Merry," whispered Boromir, trying to keep quiet for fear of waking the others.  
  
Pippin said nothing but smirked, not bothering to correct the man. Let him find out in the morning.  
  
***  
  
Merry meanwhile, rolled over in his sleep and hit something soft and cuddly. Must be Pippin, he told himself, and prepared to go back to sleep. Then he realised he had fallen asleep despite all efforts not to. But never mind, there was no time to lose.  
  
He sat up a little, trying to make as little noise as possible. The sleeping figure stirred, and Merry kept still.  
  
'Damn Pippin,' Merry thought. 'Always spoiling my fun.'  
  
An idea came to him slowly, a far easier idea than going all the way to Boromir, which was quite risky, and he moved closer to the sleeping hobbit.  
  
Sam woke to feel someone kissing his neck and breathing heavily. It was certainly a hobbit, that much he could tell, but in this sleepy - and oh, blissful - state, he couldn't tell much more, let alone work out if it was   
Frodo or Pippin.  
  
Merry smirked as he felt the hobbit relax under his kiss and be drawn into   
the situation. Well, he'd always thought Pippin was easy.  
  
***  
  
Aragorn stopped a few minutes away from the rest of the Fellowship, and turned to face the small hobbit who was looking up at him for guidance, trust shining in his eyes. Trust, Aragorn reminded himself bitterly. He knew he mustn't take advantage of that trust.  
  
He opened his mouth to say something, but didn't know what to say.  
  
"Why did you bring me here, Strider?" Frodo asked, trying not to let the hope show in his voice.  
  
"Because.. Because I think we should sleep here, away from the others. If Gollum is to come back, he is less likely to look for you here. He will look for you with the Fellowship, before he realizes you are not there, they will have dealt with him."  
  
"I see."  
  
Aragorn could see disappointment in Frodo's eyes. Obviously the Ringbearer did not wish to be alone with him. But what could he do? He couldn't let Frodo sleep near those perverts.  
  
"What if Gollum should come here and find us?"  
  
"I shall protect you, Ringbearer. Do not worry," Aragorn said, trying to act responsible.  
  
Frodo nodded, and yawned.  
  
"Lie down Frodo, get some sleep." Aragorn smiled a little, and lay down next to Frodo, keeping a space between them, so as to not tempt himself or scare Frodo.  
  
He shut his eyes, and tried to think about sleep. After a few minutes, he heard Frodo shuffle a little, and say:  
  
"Strider. I'm cold. It's so cold here, I'm used to hugging Sam for warmth.."  
  
Aragorn sighed. Sam was probably hugging one of the others very intimately right now. He didn't answer Frodo, unsure of what to say.  
  
"Strider," Frodo continued. "Do you think that I could hug you? Like we did last night? Just to keep warm, you know."  
  
Aragorn had to admit the idea sounded tempting and he was cold himself. But he couldn't risk it. "It would be very nice Frodo -"  
  
Before he could say "but," Frodo crawled over to lie close to the ranger, still wrapped up in his blankets.   
  
Very close, Aragorn noted, as he felt the hobbit's arms twine around him. He returned the hug, reminding himself that it was his duty after all to make sure that the hobbit was safe, and that included making sure he didn't die of pneumonia.  
  
Frodo sighed, and nuzzled his head against Aragorn's chest.  
  
***  
From the shadows, Gollum hissed softly. "The filthy little Bagginss.. and nassty man." He scowled jealously, but did not edge closer. He heard muttered swearing behind him, and froze, frowning suspiciously.  
  
"Elvess.." He muttered darkly when the figure had passed and was now lurking behind a rock some distance away. They want to hurt poor Gollum … yes they do, precious."  
  
His gaze flicked from Aragorn and Frodo, to Legolas, hissing quietly all the while. He did not dare stray too far from his hiding place though; Aragorn, Frodo and Legolas together seemed too much of a match for him. Instead he stayed content with watching them intently.  
  
***  
  
Sam couldn't quite keep his mind on task, so intent was he on working out exactly who this was. He wondered if the seducer would find it offensive if he were to stop and ask. At first he'd thought it must be Pippin as there was no Ring hanging around the hobbit's neck, or on his finger or anywhere around. Perhaps it was in a pocket of one of those discarded items of clothing, Sam considered, but it wasn't like Frodo to be so careless with the Ring. Then again, it wasn't like Frodo to act like this. If it was Frodo.  
  
Sam wasn't even entirely sure if this was the same seducer who had visited him last night. He couldn't remember last night, just those feelings of blissful ecstasy and near passing out moments that he was feeling now. As he started to lose his focus entirely, he wondered if perhaps last night had all been a dream; or perhaps even if this was a dream...  
  
Well, if it was a dream he certainly didn't want to wake up.  
  
***  
  
Aragorn felt himself drifting off to sleep; slowly his worries faded as tiredness overtook him. Frodo's warmth was comforting, and he was glad of it; he was too sleepy to feel like seducing anyone anyway.   
  
He didn't notice Frodo's blue eyes were open, gazing up at him in adoration and anticipation.  
  
All he could think about was sleep, sinking into slumber, feeling the world slip away.  
  
***  
  
"Oh Pip..." Merry gasped, desperately trying to keep his voice to only a whisper, and just about managing it.  
  
Sam paused undoing Merry's shirt for a second, his fingers tripping over themselves and the buttons in his shock. Did his seducer just call him Pip? And was that not Merry's voice?  
  
"Pippin," Merry moaned, sounding a little more impatient now and tugging his own shirt off.  
  
Sam felt himself blushing. What would Merry say if he knew? And how exactly would Sam go about telling him? He decided the easiest thing to do was just to keep going along with it and hoping Merry never realised his mistake.  
  
He quickly kissed Merry passionately in response to the desperate moans, hoping it would distract Merry from thinking straight. He wondered if it had been Merry the night before too. Yet he seemed to remember Pippin's smug   
grin at the time, and it was Frodo who'd been there when he woke up.  
  
***  
  
Frodo watched anxiously as Aragorn stirred in his sleep, unconsciously pulling the grateful hobbit closer. He could barely contain his excitement and hope as Aragorn began sleepily nuzzling Frodo's chest, still showing no sign of waking.  
  
Frodo held his breath, hesitant to disturb Aragorn.. Would the ranger be embarrassed at such behaviour when he woke? He had seemed quite regretful of their kissing last night. Frodo felt himself shiver a little as he remembered, and couldn't help himself.  
  
Frodo changed position a little so that his mouth was just moments away from Aragorn's, his arms coming around the ranger's neck. He waited, wanting to see what Aragorn would do next, not wanting to make the next move himself.  
Aragorn stirred in response and hugged the hobbit a little tighter, lips automatically meeting Frodo's. The hobbit gave a sigh of relief and excitement and kissed the ranger back so passionately that Aragorn woke in a state of alarm.  
  
At that moment, a rather jealous spying elf kicked a small rock, causing echoes around the stony chamber.  
Frodo jumped in fright, and Aragorn looked around suspiciously. The noise could well have been anything in this darkness, but he had a feeling… Listening carefully, he heard muttered swearing, and turned back to Frodo   
who was looking at Aragorn and waiting for him to turn back to their kiss.  
  
Aragorn stood up, holding Frodo's hand and pulling him to his feet.  
  
"It's not safe here," he whispered quietly. "Follow me and do not make a sound."  
  
Frodo nodded dumbly, seeing the serious and frustrated look in Aragorn's eyes, and let the ranger lead him away into the darkness.  
  
Legolas glared at the retreating couple and tossed his hair over his shoulder defiantly.  
  
So caught up in his jealously was he, that he didn't notice the wispy haired sneaky murmuring figure creep up on him until it was too late.  
  
***  
  
Pippin was now learning that Boromir was the kind of man who rolled over and fell sleep afterwards. And snored. Very loudly. Almost as loud as Gimli, whose lack of snoring tonight was worrisome.  
  
Pippin sighed and crawled across the rocky floor back to the other hobbits.  
  
In this darkness, he could not make out anything but their shapes, but he reached out with his hand and made out that the hobbit lying next to him was Merry. It was indeed Merry, who had the same habit as Boromir, and had left Sam lying forlornly and guiltily awake.  
  
Pippin smirked again and cuddled up next to Merry, for warmth, and just to gloat a little.  
  
Sam silently observed this with some relief. Hopefully, Merry would never know what had happened. He edged away a little just in case one of them should wake up and accuse him of deceiving Merry.  
  
***  
  
Aragorn stopped when he was satisfied that the elf was lost somewhere in the darkness behind them. He turned to Frodo, and then hesitated.  
  
Yet again Frodo was staring up at him with those big baby blue eyes, seeming almost pleading to be kissed. Of course, the hobbit didn't realise that's what he looked like, Aragorn reminded himself.  
  
"I, uh, think we'll be safe to sleep here," Aragorn said..  
  
Frodo nodded and settled down on the floor with his blankets, tugging Aragorn down beside him.  
  
Aragorn found himself lying on the floor with Frodo in his arms, as the hobbit sighed contentedly and rested his head on the ranger's chest, gazing up into his eyes once again. Aragorn shifted awkwardly, as Frodo showed no sign of looking away. Didn't the little hobbit know what looking at him like that did to him?  
  
He shut his eyes and tried to sleep, but he could still feel the hobbit's gaze boring into him. Upon opening his eyes, he saw Frodo was indeed staring at him. As their eyes met, the hobbit smiled: delicate pink lips slightly apart, breathing softly and ever so slightly faster than normal, and gentle warm fingers seeming to burn through Aragorn's clothing and onto his skin.  
  
Aragorn swallowed uncomfortably and tried to look away, but somehow he couldn't. Frodo seemed addictive.  
  
"I uh. think we should go to sleep now Frodo," Aragorn began nervously, forcing his eyes away.  
  
"But, Strider, I'm not tired," Frodo said, his expression never changing, his eyes still silently pleading.  
  
"Yes, well, I," Aragorn said, and then faltered, his voice trailing off as his eyes were suddenly captivated by the sight of Frodo's tender lips moving apart, his mouth wide open to accommodate the hobbit's thumb, which he proceeded to suck. Eyes still wide and beseeching, lips pouting and sucking hard on his soft thumb protruding from his mouth, Frodo tilted his head to one side, eyebrows raised in gentle questioning. The soft sucking noises he made echoed loudly in the quiet darkness.  
  
It was all too much for Aragorn, and he slowly raised his hand, and gently tugged the hobbit's thumb. There was a soft popping sound as Frodo's thumb left his mouth, and his lips remained apart, temptingly pink.  
  
Quickly, Frodo filled the now empty space in his mouth with Aragorn's own thumb, soft pink lips feeling warm around Aragorn's skin. The ranger suddenly felt his doubts leave him, as he gazed deep into Frodo's eyes. A tender flick of Frodo's tongue against his thumb caused him to tremble slightly.  
  
The ranger pulled his thumb away, and cupped Frodo's face with his hand. The hobbit smiled that smile again, and Aragorn leaned in and kissed Frodo tenderly, a spark rushing through him as their lips met. Frodo responded with just as much gentleness, a sharp contrast to their previous kisses.  
  
Even if Legolas had been around, Aragorn wouldn't have cared. Not with this new blissful feeling he had found.  
  
***  
  
Legolas finally managed to dart away from underneath the hissing creature attempting to pin him down, cursing in disgust. Gollum gave chase, but Legolas was quick and nimble and soon lost him.  
  
However, he'd also lost Aragorn and Frodo, and Legolas frowned crossly.  
  
Glaring around bitterly, he realised he had no hope of finding them, and he trudged back to the cavern in which the others slept. Or, were supposed to be sleeping.  
  
To his delight, as he neared the company (who appeared to be mostly sleeping, to his relief), he saw a large sleeping figure lying a little way away from the others.  
  
Legolas's heart leapt. Obviously Aragorn had given up on that silly hobbit and had come back for the elven prince, and on finding him gone, fallen asleep.  
  
He skipped over there, and was instantly on top of the man, kissing him passionately. The man responded with enthusiasm, running his fingers through the elf's silky hair. Legolas felt a little smug. He knew he'd win Aragorn over eventually. Now he'd make sure Aragorn would never turn him down, ever again.  
  
Boromir, totally oblivious that he had been mistaken for Aragorn, was delighted to find Legolas lying on top of him. Obviously word had got around about his talents, not that he'd ever expected Merry to keep his mouth shut. Now he'd got Merry and Legolas, it was just Gimli and Aragorn to go. 


	4. One Day In Lothlorien

Title: Escapades of the Fellowship (Chapter Four - One Day in Lothlorien)  
Author: Kitty-Rose (blood_and_rubies@yahoo.co.uk)  
Rating: This chapter, PG. Whole story, PG-13  
Pairings: Many but mostly Frodo/Aragorn. See first chapter for more.  
Archive: Ask me and I'll probably say yes. But please ask first.  
Summary: Lots of misunderstandings and passion. See first chapter.  
Disclaimer: None of the characters or places below are mine.  
A/N: Thanks to my beta reader Baranduin. Sorry that this story doesn't have much of Legolas in it, I know a lot of you like him in this story although I'm not entirely sure why seeing as I don't really know what I'm doing with him! He'll have a big part in the next chapter, promise. =)   
  
-----------------------------------------------------  
  
Haldir had heard the squealing and crying from a long way off, and when he crept through the bushes and finally caught sight of the visitors, he caught his breath. Aragorn, back again? After that rather embarrassing incident the last time the ranger was here, Haldir had thought that Aragorn was never coming back. Haldir steadied himself and watched further, because Aragorn was not alone. A strange mix of companions he was with, too.  
  
The hysterical crying seemed to be coming from a dwarf who was refusing to go any further, and was trying to wriggle out of the arms of a man who didn't appear very happy to be carrying him. Aragorn himself was speaking softly to the dwarf in that steady lilting voice of his, trying to calm him down; tugging at his arm fearfully was a pale frightened hobbit. There were three more hobbits, one of whom was standing at a distance and looking curiously at the flowers, the other two were pretending not to look at each other and trying to catch the other out. Haldir had no interest in hobbits, and let his glance travel over the group further. The remaining companion was an elf, a Mirkwood elf by the look of him, and he was glaring intently at Aragorn, who hadn't noticed, still trying to talk some sense into the dwarf. Haldir recognised something in the other elf's gaze, and frowned. He wasn't letting Aragorn escape this time.  
  
***  
  
Frodo held his cloak around him, feeling cold despite the sunshine, and gazed around him fearfully. Something unnerved him about this forest, and he was sure they were being watched. He tried to get Aragorn's attention, but the ranger was trying to pull Gimli up from the floor. Gimli hadn't stopped crying since they left Moria, and Frodo couldn't really blame him. He knew they were all feeling the loss of Gandalf, but he couldn't understand quite why Gimli was so affected, or why everybody kept looking embarrassed and not meeting the dwarf's gaze. Frodo had tried to comfort the dwarf himself earlier, but now it was impossible as Gimli was refusing to listen to anyone or move from where he was lying curled up on the floor.  
  
Frodo felt somebody pat him on the arm comfortingly, and when he looked up he found himself gazing at Sam's warm friendly eyes.   
  
"Don't worry, Mr. Frodo," Sam spoke kindly. "It's going to be alright. The elves will look after us now."  
  
Frodo nodded. "Thank you, Sam."  
  
He'd almost forgotten about Sam, what with all the travelling and exhaustion by day and all the secret happenings at night. He hadn't had a chance to talk to his best friend in ages and he reminded himself that he must confide in someone. Now wasn't the time however; it was getting dark and they were only on the forest borders. There was no time to take Sam aside for a chat now.  
  
Suddenly there was a roar from Gimli as Aragorn dived on him with a spare cloak and wrapped him up in it. Boromir caught the other end and held it up, and between them the screaming bundle jumped around, but couldn't get free. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief, and prepared to start walking again.  
  
***  
They hadn't walked very far, however, when they found themselves surrounded by elves. Armed elves.   
  
"What do we have here?" Haldir asked, smiling smugly.  
  
Aragorn sighed, but met his gaze. Best not let the elf think he was afraid of him. The ranger had hoped never to see Haldir again, but there was nowhere else to go but Lothlorien, and Aragorn had been hoping that Haldir would be away on holiday. He felt a little hand grab his, and he sighed again, squeezing Frodo's hand comfortingly. He hoped that Haldir didn't notice the strange chemistry between himself and the hobbit, it would only lead to trouble.   
  
But now wasn't the time for such thoughts.  
  
***  
  
Some hours later, Frodo found the chance to talk to Sam. Boromir was having a nap, Merry and Pippin were off on a walk, Aragorn was still with Celeborn, and Legolas was nowhere to be seen. And just as Frodo was thinking this would be a perfect opportunity, Sam approached him.  
  
"Are you alright, Mr. Frodo, sir? You look very thoughtful all of a sudden." He smiled.  
  
Frodo smiled back, gratefully. "I'm alright, Sam. Would you like to walk with me a while?"  
  
Frodo kept up the small talk until they were a suitable distance away from the others, and then he dropped the cheery front, and sighed.   
  
"Oh, Mr. Frodo, something's the matter isn't it? And it's not just about Gandalf, because you've been like this for three days now. Can't you tell your Sam?"  
  
"I don't know," Frodo admitted. "It's silly really..." He tried to smile, but found himself bursting into tears instead, and falling into Sam's arms. Sam hugged him tightly and Frodo felt himself releasing all of the tension and hurt he'd hidden the last couple of days, and sobbing into Sam's chest.   
"It's Aragorn," he blurted out. "I think I'm in love!"  
  
Sam felt rather relieved and patted Frodo reassuringly. He'd started to worry that Frodo might be in love with him. And after the events of the last couple of nights Sam was pretty sure that he didn't want to be romantically involved with anybody just yet. It was far too complicated and not the kind of thing to be conducted in dark foreign lands. He was cured of his brief infatuation with Mr. Frodo alright, he decided, and that meant he could help his master out with his little romantic notions. It would all work out perfectly, he was sure.  
  
"There, there, Mr. Frodo, don't cry. I'm sure everything will be just fine. Have you told him how you feel?"  
  
"Not exactly." Frodo sniffed. "Well, not with words..."  
  
"Ah, I see. I know exactly what you mean." Sam nodded firmly.  
  
"You do?" Frodo looked surprised.  
  
"Well, maybe not exactly. But, pretty much." Sam changed the subject hastily. "What we'll do, Mr. Frodo, is make a plan, for you to court Aragorn, so to speak."  
  
Frodo nodded, and wiped away a few tears with his sleeve. "Thank you, Sam."  
  
***  
  
"By the way, I liked what you did last night," Merry whispered.   
  
"You did?" Pippin was surprised. How did Merry know about what he and Boromir had got up to last night? He'd been very careful to be discreet.   
  
"Very much so." Merry winked. "I've got some more ideas of my own for tonight."  
  
"Good," Pippin said, quickly, not wanting Merry to think he was confused, and then settled down to think about the situation. He didn't want anyone getting the better of him.  
  
***  
  
Aragorn walked through the trees warily, watching out for Haldir on all sides. However, the first person to jump out at him wasn't Haldir at all, but Boromir.  
  
"Where've you been?" the warrior demanded.  
  
"I've been with Celeborn," Aragorn said calmly, and didn't stop walking.   
  
"Oh yes?" Boromir walked alongside him. "Why didn't you bring me with you? If you're going to be talking about important things, I don't see why I wasn't involved."  
  
"Celeborn asked to see me, he didn't mention you."  
  
"What did he want to see you about?"  
  
"About the quest. Gandalf. What happened in Moria." Aragorn stopped talking abruptly, as he was swamped by too many memories of Moria that weren't really relevant to this conversation and that he didn't want repeated, by anybody.  
  
"I could have been a valuable asset to that conversation," Boromir said .. "You just assume I'm a fighter, don't you? You don't ever think I might be capable of thinking and feeling and anything like that?"   
  
Aragorn stopped, and looked at him quizzically. "Boromir, is there a problem?"  
  
"Oh, just forget it!" Boromir choked, and ran off into the trees.  
  
Aragorn sighed, and at that moment Haldir appeared.  
  
"Hello, stranger," he said, smirking. "And now we meet again, after all these months."  
  
"Actually, we met an hour ago," Aragorn pointed out, on his guard.  
  
"I know," admitted Haldir. "But we had company then, so I couldn't really say it. Now we're all alone," hepurred, and stepped closer. "Who was that man you were just talking to? Seems like you upset him."  
  
"I think he was upset anyway."  
  
"Oh dear. Well, you do have an effect on people, don't you?" Haldir reached out, and stroked Aragorn's cheek. "I should know."  
  
"I'm sorry, but I must be going," Aragorn said, smiling politely and removing Haldir's hand. "Nice seeing you again though."  
  
Haldir watched the ranger walk away. "Alright, Aragorn," he called. "But you just wait until tonight!"  
  
***  
  
Merry grabbed Boromir's arm as soon as the man returned.  
  
"I just wanted to say sorry. For not turning up last night," Merry whispered, after checking nobody was around.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You know, last night. I was going to come and see you, but Pippin was sleeping right next to me. He kept stirring and I didn't want to wake him up."  
  
"Oh, of course. Never mind, then." Boromir smiled, wondering what Merry was talking about. He was sure he remembered being visited by the hobbit last night. Unless he'd dreamt it. Or unless it wasn't Merry.  
  
But Merry had disappeared again, and Boromir made his way to his bed, where he could lie in peace and try and work it out. But to his surprise, he found Pippin waiting for him.  
  
"I've been talking to Merry," he said, grinning. He was quite proud of himself for working it all out. Evidently Merry and Boromir knew all about last night, and Pippin certainly wasn't going to appear stupid or easily confused in front of them.  
  
"Have you?"  
  
"Yes. I had a lot of fun last night."  
  
"Did you?" Boromir frowned, and tried to piece everything together. He was starting to get the feeling that he was being used.  
  
"And I think Merry wants to join us tonight. So I thought I'd ask you if that was okay."  
  
"No, it's not!" Boromir felt emotion stirring again. "You don't care about me! And neither does Merry! All you do is take advantage of me and I won't take it anymore! Now leave me in peace!"  
  
Though Pippin was surprised, he quickly left before his confusion could show. He was starting to feel more bewildered than ever. Perhaps Boromir hadn't known it was him last night. Pippin decided he had a headache, and went to lie down himself. 


End file.
